STRONGHOLD & ST. RADEGUND'S CHURCH Talmont-sur-Gironde, Charente-Maritime
During the Early Middle Ages, the village of Talmont becomes a military stronghold. In 1284, Edward I of England, Duke of Aquitaine, surrounds it with walls, thus creating a fortified city similar to those which appear across the South West of France. It's still possible to see some remains of the walls today beyond the church. For example a wall which is the only vestige of a square tower called “the white tower”. An important military stronghold, Talmont is also a place of pilgrimage on the Way to St James. After their devotions to St. Radegonde, the patron saint of the church, the pilgrims could choose either to cross the Gironde estuary to reach the Basilica of Soulac or to continue their journey through Blaye and Bordeaux. St. Radegonde is a catholic church built in the eleventh century by Benedictine monks of Saint-Jean-d'Angély Abbey. The church was declared a Historical Monument August 30th, 1890.